OK.
Now let's have a short discussion about common grammar or word choice mistakes.
These are some of the fatal flaws that lower grades.
The most common now academic writing is much different than other forms of writing because in academic
writing you don't write the way you speak.
You don't use slang right do not expect the reader to know what you mean.
Sometimes and in other types of writing you might assume the reader knows what you mean in academic
writing you don't assume anything.
Right.
When you make assumptions or as I like to say when you write in a way that requires influencing if you
write in a way that requires influencing or making inferences you're about to have a problem in terms
of your score.
Don't write in fragments.
Use complete sentences.
Always use standard written English.
Here are some bad habits to avoid in academic writing.
Don't use you having inconsistent purpose a person having inconsistent tense abbreviations using slang
one or Ghana is OK to use that in speaking but not in writing.
Don't use etc..
Avoid ending verbs with E N or i n instead of i n g.
Waitin watchin some of you might think is funny but I see it a lot.
Be careful with your pronoun antecedent agreement and reference right.
A lot of times students use these pronouns wrong they use them wrongly and so you have to make sure
that you're able to write in a way that uses proper pronouns MECHANICAL RULES never began a sentence
with a number.
Spell it out.
All numbers below 100 should be spelled out.
Those above 100 are optional but you should be consistent.
Here are some commonly misspelled words you have to be careful with right.
I see this very often and you want to make sure that you don't make these simple basic mistakes if there
is any slide that you want to spend some more time looking at.
Just pause the video and you can look at it a little bit longer.
Unnecessary repetition write unnecessary repetition.
Now remember I told you sometimes when being with when being for coherence and cohesion you might have
some parts where you have repetition.
But we're talking about unnecessary repetition.
And so if you are you know being repetitive in your writing.
Look here you know a round circle a circle is automatically round refer back.
Right.
The whole entire world.
If this is the kind of writing that you have to be kind of careful with because it's unnecessary repetition.
Be careful with some words and phrases to avoid.
You want to try to avoid contractions.
This is difficult and even sometimes I might make a mistake and use a contraction.
Right.
Is is this is difficult sometimes because in many of your your English language schools they don't tell
you to avoid contractions in academic writing.
And so sometimes you is that is a really difficult habit to break for even for even a native speaker
avoid beginning sentences with conjunctions right.
There are no such.
Be careful with words that don't exist.
Be careful of capitalizing words that should not be capitalizing so these are some of the things that
you have to be careful with in terms of words and phrases to avoid is very important that you know your
parts of speech and use your parts of speech correctly.
Here are some more specifics in terms of errors.
Fragments o fragments right.
You've got to be careful with fragments look at these examples of fragments first the lack of exercise
period.
Well what about it.
Okay what about it.
That's a fragment.
What are you talking about.
What about what about the lack of exercise although the number falling for example fast foods we things
in oily food.
These are fragments.
When it says fragment it means you have a period and it's an incomplete thought very often this happens
because a student can't write compound sentences correctly in complex sentences correctly.
And when you're not able to do that you end up writing fragments.
Now here you can look at these examples and you can see how those sentences will be written so that
they're not fragments comma splices comma splices our type of run on sentence write their sentences.
This should be separate but our join with a comma run on their sentences that should be separate but
are joined anyway right in the past people did not have cars they used to walk right.
Why is this a run on right.
Because there is there.
There should be something there's there's there's no proper comma placement
heart disease is a big problem and kills thousands of people.
Heart disease is a big problem because it kills thousands of people
modern our our modern life is very easy jobs are easier than they were 50 years ago because since right
so very often an essay writing a C comma splices and commas places are a huge huge grammatical mistake
that you have to stop doing right you can go ahead and these are some ways there you can fix comma splice
problems right you can use a period you can use a semicolon you can use a comma and in coordinating
conjunction or you can use a subordinating conjunction you're coordinating conjunctions are compound
sentences your subordinate conjunction subordinating conjunctions are complex sentences right but these
are for ways that you can practice being able to avoid comma splices it all comes from writing sentences
correctly.
Now if you're just using a lot of periods doesn't it make you fall more into these simplistic type of
writing and you won't get a really high score for it you'll be correct but you won't get a really high
score for it if you're using method three a method for you're going to get a higher score for doing
it correctly
these are some examples of how to fix comma splices so again if you need to stop the screen right here
and take a look at how we fixed these comma splices look at look at a and then look at the examples
of how we fixed the comma splices.
Here are a few more comma splice examples.
All right.
You can look and see how these things were fixed
run on sentences
a run on sentence is a sentence comprised of two or more independent clauses not properly separated
right.
So again we're talking about really comma splices again.
It happens because there's a lack of punctuation or conjunctions incorrect punctuation a comma splice
write a run on sentence is not simply a long sentence.
My favorite Mediterranean spread is hummus.
It is very garlic de what's the problem here.
Because since or period it is nearly half past five.
We cannot reach town before dark.
You're missing a conjunction.
So
I have to go to the store.
I need to buy milk.
You even have to be very simplistic.
I have to go to the store period.
I have.
I need milk.
I need to buy milk.
Period.
Or to get a higher score.
Create a use a subordinate conjunction.
I have to go to the store because I need to buy milk.
These are more examples of run on sentences you have example on the left in an example on the right.
OK again if you feel like I'm going through some parts too quickly for you.
Stop the video.
Take a look and read more carefully.
Sometimes yes.
Be careful with missing main components of sentences right.
Sentences have a subject and a predicate and very often students leave out the subject or leave out
the predicate.
And when you do that you're creating a grammar problem.
Subject verb agreement write in order for a sentence to be grammatically correct is subject and corresponding
verb must agree right they must agree.
So this is a big big problem for students and now for most students if I asked them the rule they know
the rule.
But what most students have trouble with is performance of the rule.
Now performance of the rule gets better if you're doing focused practice right.
If you're doing focus the practice so sometimes you might write a paragraph and if you have problems
with subject verb agreement you might say you know what when I write this program for this program when
I write this paragraph I'm going to just focus on my subject verb agreement.
I'm going to be mindful and focus on my subject verb agreement to make sure that I'm able to get it
correct and perfect my ability to do that.
Here are some examples of subject verb agreement errors look at example one and look at example to right
see if you can spot the difference an important part of my life have been right it should be an important
part of my life has been my life has been not my life have been they have we have right he has she has
my life has
adding a plural s this is another big big issue that I see sometimes the students leave off this is
a grammar mistake that you had to be very careful with everybody
pronouns misusing pronouns again big big grammatical problem stop here and read about this you can learn
more about misusing pronouns so you can avoid making that mistake no comma after an introductory phrase
right.
Like while while a Thanksgiving commercial plate while a Thanksgiving you have to make sure that you
have your karma right so while a Thanksgiving commercial plate on the TV right.
That's the introductory phrase All right.
While the Thanksgiving commercial played on the TV network the introductory phrase is also a dependent
clause right.
So is the introductory phrase and deepening clause.
And that means we need to have a comma after TV.
You must have a comma after TV split infinitives.
This is really really really technical here.
Right is not really grammatically wrong is more about style and what sounds better right.
So when you see something where a sincere or incorrect is not grammatically incorrect it's just stylistically
incorrect.
OK is stylistically incorrect
and your dangly modifiers namely modifiers are a big problem.
Look at this example down here by studying hard grades will be improved contain that contains a dangly
modifier because it doesn't identify who will be studying hard.
So look at the revised sentence here.
When students study hard their grades will improve.
Right dangling modifier means is hanging is hanging there but is not being said
right.
It does is not there.
It has to be there is missing is a dangly model of dangling modifier.
Be careful with your word choice.
Mistakes missed use words.
Example there were adverse adverse effects and it should be there were adverse effects.
I see a lot of word choice mistakes so you have to be careful with that.
Be careful with unwanted connotations or meanings.
I see this a lot.
Example I sprayed the ants in their personal places yeah that's grammatically correct but it doesn't
have any real meaning.
Right you're not spraying them in their personal places.
I sprayed the ants in their hiding places.
Again those are were.
Those are connotation mistakes connotation mistakes and sometimes if you only have one of them it's
OK but sometimes I read essays and people have ten ten connotation mistakes and when you have that many
connotation mistakes with word choice that means that you're having issues with using the English language
properly and that's what lowers your score.
Complex words where a shorter or simpler word will do
OK.
So a lot of times people try to use these big words these big big words and sometimes I'm writing I'm
right I'm making comments to students and I'm saying I have no idea what you're talking about right.
Because you're using some big complex word and you're not using it correctly or is contextually used
incorrectly.
Be careful with awkward word choice mistakes right.
You can take a look at this example the revision and the reason for the change and get an example of
what I'm talking about.
In terms of awkward word choice words that are similar to each other but convey the wrong meaning.
Again look of the example the revision and the reason for the change.
So you can understand what that means.
Words that convey finer shades of meaning OK.
This again this is where it gets a little bit more more technical.
But look here previously a substantial number of patients with A.S.A.P. were defined as having previously
a substantial number of patients with ASCAP were diagnosed as having right.
Again were defined as having is not really stylistically contextually correct.
Right.
The word you should be using is diagnosed.
Now what I'm talking about are the things that make a difference between somebody that gets an intermediate
level score right or mid range score and somebody that gets a really high level score.
These are the kind of things that make a difference and some of you are not seeing all these things
I'm talking about.
These are the kind of things that people are doing that are scoring on the upper scale of the rubric
right.
If you're not able to do these things I'm talking about and do these things consistently.
You're gonna have a little bit of trouble scoring on the upper scale of the rubric right.
So if you want to learn more about avoiding mistakes right.
You can get more help.
An attachment.
And if you follow that attachment there's a link to a grammar diagnostic test you can take that grammar
diagnostic test and you can learn a lot more about your grammar issues and also after you take that
diagnostic test they give you rule advice on how to correct your grammar mistakes.
OK so I hope this is front.
I hope this was helpful for you.
Because I've talked a lot about your your general English needs to really match your skills that you're
learning in the course.
Right.
So I just wanted to mention these things briefly.
This is not a general English course right.
I'll focus more on the strategies and tactics you need for the exam but I just wanted to mention some
of these things because these are issues that come up that some of you need to really go out and do
some more investigation and correct within your writing.
OK.
So take care.